WEBVTT - It Takes a Village | 7 0:00:01.440 --> 0:00:05.040 Hey, listeners, Jessica here. Be sure to check out new 0:00:05.080 --> 0:00:09.680 episodes of Undetermined every Tuesday for free wherever you get 0:00:09.680 --> 0:00:13.520 your podcasts. For early and ad free listening, check out 0:00:13.560 --> 0:00:20.680 Tenderfoot plus on Apple Podcasts. The views and opinions expressed 0:00:20.720 --> 0:00:24.640 in this podcast are solely those of the individuals interviewed 0:00:24.920 --> 0:00:28.280 and participating in the show, and do not represent those 0:00:28.320 --> 0:00:33.360 of Tenderfoot TV and Resonate Recordings. All individuals described or 0:00:33.440 --> 0:00:37.160 mentioned in the podcast should be considered innocent until found 0:00:37.200 --> 0:00:41.320 guilty in a court of law. This podcast contains subject 0:00:41.320 --> 0:00:45.239 matter such as violence and graphic descriptions, which may not 0:00:45.320 --> 0:00:49.720 be suitable for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised. 0:00:57.200 --> 0:01:00.600 You wanna, let's just maybe walk up to the tracks 0:01:00.600 --> 0:01:04.480 and look and see like that vandage point, and then 0:01:04.480 --> 0:01:08.200 we'll walk down to where she was bound. 0:01:10.640 --> 0:01:14.800 This investigation has taken us many places and led us 0:01:14.800 --> 0:01:18.240 all around the city of New Orleans. Well. One place 0:01:18.440 --> 0:01:21.200 we've spent a lot of time in is the area 0:01:21.640 --> 0:01:25.280 where Jessica's body was found back in August of twenty nineteen. 0:01:26.440 --> 0:01:29.640 As you walk down Kenilworth Street and look over at 0:01:29.640 --> 0:01:33.560 the rows of houses, it makes you wonder could one 0:01:33.600 --> 0:01:38.040 of Jessica's two thousand plus neighbors have seen something? Could 0:01:38.040 --> 0:01:42.880 they know something? Could there still be evidence hidden somewhere 0:01:42.880 --> 0:01:46.920 in the small field where her body laid. There's a 0:01:46.959 --> 0:01:49.600 lot to take in here and a lot of things 0:01:49.760 --> 0:01:54.280 to consider. All right, let's walk this way. But on 0:01:54.320 --> 0:01:58.160 this day, what has our attention is the street sign 0:01:58.320 --> 0:02:02.680 at the intersection of Orleans Avenue in Kenilworth Street, just 0:02:02.720 --> 0:02:05.920 a short walk from the field where Jessica's body laid, 0:02:07.000 --> 0:02:11.640 A roadside memorial inside a rather upscale neighborhood, it seems 0:02:11.960 --> 0:02:15.600 out of place. Sticking out from the ground is a 0:02:15.720 --> 0:02:20.440 large wooden cross bearing Jessica's name. A neighbor actually made 0:02:20.440 --> 0:02:23.519 it and placed it there. Tied to the bottom of 0:02:23.560 --> 0:02:26.680 the cross are a teddy bear and a bundle of 0:02:26.760 --> 0:02:31.400 pink and purple silk flowers. Just above the memorial, Attached 0:02:31.400 --> 0:02:34.800 to the pole is a custom flyer, giving a little 0:02:34.840 --> 0:02:40.079 more context to any unknowing passers by. It's faded from 0:02:40.080 --> 0:02:42.280 the unrelenting New Orleans sun. 0:02:43.080 --> 0:02:46.640 The plastic sign is now bent and just kind of 0:02:46.680 --> 0:02:52.920 waving in the breeze. It's almost somber out here by itself. 0:02:53.760 --> 0:02:57.680 It's very sad it's got the crime stoppers number. What 0:02:57.760 --> 0:03:02.160 happened to Jessica Easterly And contrary to. 0:03:02.160 --> 0:03:06.720 The memorial, the flyer was actually Audrey's doing. She figured 0:03:06.760 --> 0:03:09.880 if anyone had any information, there was a good chance 0:03:10.040 --> 0:03:13.560 they'd be a resident of Lakeview. Her hope was that 0:03:13.639 --> 0:03:17.560 posting signs around the neighborhood would maybe open some doors 0:03:18.160 --> 0:03:21.680 or at the very least bring awareness to her sister's case. 0:03:22.400 --> 0:03:25.280 You can definitely say they got people's attention. 0:03:26.440 --> 0:03:29.960 I remember the missing posters going around, and I was like, 0:03:30.360 --> 0:03:33.120 nobody goes missing in Lakeview. That's something that happens on 0:03:33.200 --> 0:03:36.600 like dateline. I never would have thought it would have 0:03:36.600 --> 0:03:40.640 happened like in my little niche family neighborhood. 0:03:40.960 --> 0:03:44.120 We're still like, how did this happen here? Like? What 0:03:44.680 --> 0:03:45.880 did we miss? 0:03:46.120 --> 0:03:50.400 I just feel very strongly because it's my neighborhood, and 0:03:50.600 --> 0:03:54.080 because I have become friends with Audrey, that I feel 0:03:54.120 --> 0:04:23.080 like I'm not going to stop until something is done. 0:04:24.279 --> 0:04:26.720 When Audrey came up with the idea of posting signs 0:04:26.720 --> 0:04:30.479 around the Lakeview neighborhood, with similar posts made across social 0:04:30.520 --> 0:04:33.719 media platforms, she didn't know if anything would ever come 0:04:33.720 --> 0:04:36.320 of it. All. She knew is she was in a 0:04:36.360 --> 0:04:40.440 position where she felt she needed help from anyone willing. 0:04:41.279 --> 0:04:45.360 The old adage it takes a village right true in 0:04:45.400 --> 0:04:49.839 many cases, and certainly true in this one. Because those 0:04:49.839 --> 0:04:53.600 signs Audrey posted did have an effect on some locals. 0:04:54.240 --> 0:04:57.560 How could it not. This type of thing doesn't happen 0:04:58.160 --> 0:05:00.000 in a neighborhood like lake. 0:05:01.440 --> 0:05:05.040 Lakeview is one of the safest neighborhoods in New Orleans. 0:05:05.040 --> 0:05:06.520 That's one of the reasons why I moved here. 0:05:07.680 --> 0:05:10.160 This is Laura, a Lakeview resident. 0:05:11.000 --> 0:05:12.920 I grew up Uptown, and then when I got married 0:05:12.920 --> 0:05:15.839 and decided to have kids, we moved to Lakeview because, 0:05:16.080 --> 0:05:18.080 as you can see right now in the afternoon, people 0:05:18.120 --> 0:05:20.920 are out walking their dogs, kids ride their bikes. It's 0:05:21.040 --> 0:05:24.200 a very family friendly neighborhood. Like completely, you can feel 0:05:24.200 --> 0:05:26.680 safe here. You can walk everywhere. That's why I like 0:05:26.720 --> 0:05:27.239 living here. 0:05:28.560 --> 0:05:32.120 We're seated under the shade of a carefully groomed tree, 0:05:32.200 --> 0:05:36.040 just outside a favorite neighborhood spot, Nola Bean coffee shop. 0:05:36.839 --> 0:05:41.159 Across the street, bells ring at each new hour, drowning 0:05:41.200 --> 0:05:44.880 out the traffic, just in front of a large stone church. 0:05:45.720 --> 0:05:49.599 It's an idyllic setting. Again, not the kind of place 0:05:49.640 --> 0:05:51.760 where something like this would happen. 0:05:52.720 --> 0:05:55.760 I remember the missing posters going around. I think it 0:05:55.880 --> 0:06:00.080 was like August eleventh. They're twelve when they're out. And 0:06:00.080 --> 0:06:03.440 then like I saw a Facebook post and next door posts, 0:06:03.480 --> 0:06:06.279 and so I started like reaching out to people that 0:06:06.320 --> 0:06:09.920 were posting stuff, just like asking him to know her, let's, 0:06:10.400 --> 0:06:13.159 you know, do a search thing. And then before you 0:06:13.240 --> 0:06:16.240 can get anything together, her sister found her body. And 0:06:16.240 --> 0:06:19.000 then I was like, been involved with that ever since, 0:06:19.279 --> 0:06:21.000 because I have friends that are like, Laura, why are 0:06:21.040 --> 0:06:23.120 you involved you, Harley, You didn't even know her, you 0:06:23.160 --> 0:06:24.520 never even met Her'm like, I know it didn't, but 0:06:24.560 --> 0:06:26.919 I was like there's something in me that I'm like 0:06:27.360 --> 0:06:29.120 I have to be her voice. So like I just 0:06:29.120 --> 0:06:32.040 feel like I was have to do something like if 0:06:32.120 --> 0:06:35.320 that was my sister or my mom or a friend, 0:06:35.400 --> 0:06:38.080 like I would hope people would do the same for me. 0:06:39.960 --> 0:06:43.400 When the preschool teacher first learned that Jessica was missing, 0:06:43.920 --> 0:06:49.440 she remembers having an immediate visceral reaction. I, in my 0:06:49.560 --> 0:06:51.560 gut said that she's not missing. 0:06:51.640 --> 0:06:54.360 I was like, she's she's dead. Wherever she is, she's dead. 0:06:55.200 --> 0:06:57.680 Of course it wouldn't take long for that notion to 0:06:57.720 --> 0:07:01.680 be confirmed. Like Laura said, just about a week later, 0:07:02.080 --> 0:07:06.480 the neighborhood learned that Jessica's body had been found again. 0:07:07.200 --> 0:07:11.320 Laura had an instant reaction to the news. 0:07:11.040 --> 0:07:13.480 She was murdered when she went missing. 0:07:13.520 --> 0:07:15.520 I was like, she was murdered, Like people don't go 0:07:15.600 --> 0:07:18.240 missing here, Like this is not just a missing person. 0:07:18.280 --> 0:07:20.240 Like if there was a missing person, like it would 0:07:20.240 --> 0:07:21.840 have been on the news, it'd been all over place. 0:07:22.000 --> 0:07:23.239 It was really nowhere. 0:07:23.280 --> 0:07:26.720 It was like from Jessica's friend Maria posting on her 0:07:26.760 --> 0:07:28.760 social media I think it was Facebook. When she first 0:07:28.800 --> 0:07:31.920 posted it, it went like viral onto the lake View 0:07:32.000 --> 0:07:34.280 next Door app and like I put it on there, 0:07:34.600 --> 0:07:37.080 another girl neighbor put it on there, and so it 0:07:37.160 --> 0:07:37.800 kind of just blew it. 0:07:37.880 --> 0:07:42.440 From that, Laura quickly noticed that Jessica's friend Maria was 0:07:42.480 --> 0:07:46.360 making quite a splash on social media, spreading word about 0:07:46.440 --> 0:07:50.280 Jessica's case, so eventually she reached out. 0:07:50.640 --> 0:07:53.520 I privately messaged her friend Maria and was like, I 0:07:53.560 --> 0:07:54.440 know you don't live here. 0:07:54.520 --> 0:07:56.560 I know you don't know me. I did not know Jessica. 0:07:56.960 --> 0:07:59.360 If there's anything I can do on the grounds here, 0:07:59.480 --> 0:08:01.320 like I can be your eyes here, and I kind 0:08:01.320 --> 0:08:03.840 of have been that for them. 0:08:04.120 --> 0:08:06.720 Over the years, Laura has formed quite a bond with 0:08:06.800 --> 0:08:10.760 Jessica's loved ones. After some back and forth with Maria, 0:08:11.040 --> 0:08:13.960 Laura would get in touch with Audrey and she hasn't 0:08:13.960 --> 0:08:15.040 looked back since. 0:08:16.160 --> 0:08:19.600 I feel like I've become like part of friends with Audrey, 0:08:19.640 --> 0:08:21.960 like even though I've never met her in person, like 0:08:22.160 --> 0:08:26.560 I've been talking to her since twenty nineteen. People say 0:08:26.560 --> 0:08:28.120 that my husband says it too, like, Waur, why is 0:08:28.120 --> 0:08:28.400 it matter? 0:08:28.440 --> 0:08:28.840 You don't even know? 0:08:29.360 --> 0:08:32.360 Her voice is gone, She's dead, like that cross that 0:08:32.600 --> 0:08:34.880 is in her moral Me and the other neighbor as Sam, 0:08:34.880 --> 0:08:38.000 we're the ones that put it there. And I emailed 0:08:38.160 --> 0:08:39.720 Audrey and I asked her, do you want us to 0:08:39.720 --> 0:08:41.120 put her name on it? Do you want it to 0:08:41.200 --> 0:08:43.439 leave it blank? What would you like? Like, I am 0:08:43.480 --> 0:08:45.480 not looking for a reward, I'm not looking for anything. 0:08:45.480 --> 0:08:48.439 I'm looking for literally justice for her. Like I believe 0:08:48.440 --> 0:08:51.600 the NOPD has not done their job. Doesn't take rocket 0:08:51.600 --> 0:08:54.480 science to figure this out, you know. And I understand 0:08:54.520 --> 0:08:57.440 you can't just arrest somebody you don't have enough evidence, 0:08:57.520 --> 0:09:02.280 But I feel like they didn't even do enough to 0:09:02.320 --> 0:09:05.280 get evidence. It's like they didn't want to find evidence 0:09:05.360 --> 0:09:06.480 to prove this. 0:09:07.720 --> 0:09:11.760 Laura feels strongly that ineptitude within the n OPD has 0:09:11.920 --> 0:09:16.840 hindered the investigation. Because of that, she never passes at 0:09:16.840 --> 0:09:20.160 an opportunity to remind the police that they have a 0:09:20.280 --> 0:09:21.080 job to do here. 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:25.680 I would call NPD third District Lebrono. He does not 0:09:25.840 --> 0:09:28.120 like me, but guess what, that's fine. I don't care. 0:09:28.480 --> 0:09:31.600 Every Wednesday of the month, it's the first Wednesday every 0:09:31.600 --> 0:09:34.480 month we have neighborhood meeting. Because the third district is 0:09:34.480 --> 0:09:36.079 for Lakeview and you get on it every day. I 0:09:36.080 --> 0:09:38.120 would say every meeting, I know you're not going to 0:09:38.160 --> 0:09:40.079 tell me anything about the case, but is there anything 0:09:40.120 --> 0:09:43.920 you can update us on Jessica Easterly, like anything. I 0:09:43.960 --> 0:09:46.120 know it's still under investigation, so you're not allowed to 0:09:46.120 --> 0:09:48.080 say anything, but you need to tell us something. And 0:09:48.080 --> 0:09:49.760 he would just get annoyed because he wanted to just 0:09:49.760 --> 0:09:52.600 talk about like the car hand pulling and the doors 0:09:52.720 --> 0:09:55.040 getting smashed whatever, the windows being smashed all the time. 0:09:55.080 --> 0:09:56.959 He did not want to hear Sam and I when 0:09:56.960 --> 0:09:58.920 we would get on there, he would try to ignore 0:09:58.960 --> 0:10:01.559 us and change the subject every single month. He hates 0:10:01.640 --> 0:10:03.880 those meetings. Literally, when he sees my name on the 0:10:03.920 --> 0:10:06.439 zoom thing, He's like, great, Laura's here again. 0:10:07.480 --> 0:10:10.480 Laura has sort of become a chain of communication with 0:10:10.640 --> 0:10:13.720 n OPD locally, whether they like it or not. She 0:10:13.880 --> 0:10:18.160 jokes she's driving or walking through the neighborhood and sees 0:10:18.240 --> 0:10:21.440 anything she thinks could be of importance. She shares it 0:10:22.520 --> 0:10:26.400 as an investigative journalist covering crime. One thing police have 0:10:26.480 --> 0:10:29.560 always told me when it comes to tips, send them 0:10:29.559 --> 0:10:33.560 in no matter how insignificant you think they are. Let 0:10:33.600 --> 0:10:36.920 them be the judge of that. Of course, Living just 0:10:36.920 --> 0:10:40.400 a few blocks away, Laura often drives past Justin and 0:10:40.480 --> 0:10:41.360 Jessica's house. 0:10:42.200 --> 0:10:46.199 So I'll drive by and I always see cars parked 0:10:46.720 --> 0:10:48.840 with the license plates always to the house in the 0:10:48.840 --> 0:10:50.640 front of the car, like most people just pull in 0:10:50.679 --> 0:10:52.880 their driveway. So I always thought that was weird. And 0:10:52.920 --> 0:10:56.800 there was always always a range drover there. Right when 0:10:56.840 --> 0:10:59.360 Jessica went missing, it was just a range drover and 0:10:59.360 --> 0:11:04.080 a motorcycle. The motorcycle disappeared shortly after her body was found, 0:11:04.120 --> 0:11:07.640 and then the range river disappeared. Because after the range disappeared, 0:11:07.679 --> 0:11:09.680 all of a sudden like a Mercedes and a BMW 0:11:09.760 --> 0:11:11.200 showed up on the driveway, and I was like, okay, 0:11:11.280 --> 0:11:14.560 this is sketchy like because the BMW will sometimes be 0:11:14.600 --> 0:11:17.720 there by itself, then it disappears for a while, then 0:11:17.760 --> 0:11:21.520 the Mercedes. Same thing, and then there's another guy that 0:11:21.720 --> 0:11:25.120 lives there, which is weird. That appeared after Jessica was 0:11:25.200 --> 0:11:25.840 found dead. 0:11:26.960 --> 0:11:29.600 She thinks it was about six months after Jessica's death 0:11:29.880 --> 0:11:32.440 that the man moved in with Justin, his father and 0:11:32.480 --> 0:11:37.559 his daughter. Laura admits she rarely sees Justin or anyone 0:11:37.600 --> 0:11:40.400 living in the home for that matter, yet there's always 0:11:40.559 --> 0:11:44.520 enough activity to keep her thinking. For example, not too 0:11:44.559 --> 0:11:47.440 long ago, that range Rover that had gone missing for 0:11:47.480 --> 0:11:50.520 some time, all of a sudden reappeared. 0:11:51.280 --> 0:11:53.840 It's still weird to me out I'm like her car 0:11:54.600 --> 0:11:57.320 was gone right after she died, and then now it's back, 0:11:57.520 --> 0:11:58.320 like where was it? 0:11:58.520 --> 0:11:59.040 Where was it? 0:11:59.080 --> 0:12:02.960 For the past year, and more recently, in October of 0:12:03.000 --> 0:12:07.559 twenty twenty, something very out of the ordinary caught her attention. 0:12:08.760 --> 0:12:12.600 So I drove by and it was a futon and 0:12:12.640 --> 0:12:16.000 a headboard to a bed and they're putting it out 0:12:16.080 --> 0:12:18.120 like almost when dusk was coming. 0:12:18.160 --> 0:12:19.760 It was like nighttime. 0:12:19.800 --> 0:12:23.040 I called Audrey and she was like, will you drive 0:12:23.120 --> 0:12:24.080 by and take pictures? 0:12:24.080 --> 0:12:24.800 I need like evidence. 0:12:24.840 --> 0:12:27.280 So I did one of the side street took pictures 0:12:27.280 --> 0:12:31.040 of it, and then all of a sudden, I was like, 0:12:31.040 --> 0:12:33.280 oh my god, Audio, I drove by again and there 0:12:33.320 --> 0:12:36.880 was a NOPD like forensics truck or something. I was like, 0:12:36.880 --> 0:12:39.200 oh my god, the forensics truck is there now, and 0:12:39.240 --> 0:12:40.720 she was like, are they taking it? I was like, 0:12:40.720 --> 0:12:42.920 it doesn't look like they're taking this stuff. I said, 0:12:42.920 --> 0:12:45.520 it looks like they're like taking swabs off it or 0:12:45.520 --> 0:12:47.640 like testing it. I was like, I never took the stuff, 0:12:47.960 --> 0:12:51.080 and it sat out there for like a week or two, 0:12:51.240 --> 0:12:52.080 and then I was gone. 0:12:53.679 --> 0:12:57.120 According to Laura, it appeared as though the NOPD took 0:12:57.160 --> 0:13:00.559 swabs at the furniture for testing, but if they did, 0:13:01.160 --> 0:13:03.840 no one in the family knows of any results, nor 0:13:03.880 --> 0:13:07.720 does Laura. She doesn't necessarily expect the police to tell her, 0:13:08.160 --> 0:13:12.079 but as a Lakeview resident, she'd certainly like to know 0:13:12.320 --> 0:13:15.280 what it was about. I mean, it's not every day 0:13:15.320 --> 0:13:19.920 you see authorities swabbing your neighbor's belongings. Laura admits she's 0:13:19.960 --> 0:13:23.840 thankful to see that investigators are working the case, at 0:13:23.920 --> 0:13:27.280 least they appear to be, though for her in no 0:13:27.400 --> 0:13:28.920 way makes up for the past. 0:13:29.720 --> 0:13:31.760 I mean, there's so many things I feel like they 0:13:31.880 --> 0:13:34.040 messed up in the beginning, Like how can I fix 0:13:34.080 --> 0:13:37.280 it now to get answers for the family? You know, 0:13:38.080 --> 0:13:39.800 I thought the police are here to help us, you know, 0:13:39.840 --> 0:13:42.720 I'm here to back them if they back us. You know, 0:13:42.760 --> 0:13:45.599 it makes me nervous that I did call in the 0:13:45.640 --> 0:13:49.360 beginning and when harass in OPD and say, hey, I'm 0:13:49.360 --> 0:13:51.800 calling about the dusk Easter the case, and sometimes the 0:13:51.800 --> 0:13:53.800 third District would say, I don't even know who you're 0:13:53.840 --> 0:13:56.480 talking about, and I'm like, excuse me. We shouldn't be 0:13:56.520 --> 0:13:59.960 fighting to get this, like the police and the authority 0:14:00.200 --> 0:14:03.400 should be wanting to help. No one should have to fight, 0:14:03.559 --> 0:14:05.920 you know, for a family member or anything like this. 0:14:06.000 --> 0:14:09.560 Like I couldn't imagine if I was Audrey, how they're 0:14:09.559 --> 0:14:12.640 feeling having to deal with the sadness of the whole 0:14:12.640 --> 0:14:15.840 situation and then still having to fight, you know, and 0:14:16.520 --> 0:14:18.480 keep strong, you know, be very strong. 0:14:19.600 --> 0:14:21.240 I feel that. 0:14:21.760 --> 0:14:24.760 I'm her voice here in the neighborhood, and maybe me 0:14:25.560 --> 0:14:31.560 being annoying to all the police here, our da our 0:14:31.600 --> 0:14:37.040 council member, anyone that they'll maybe do something, because if 0:14:37.080 --> 0:14:40.440 we don't stop harassing them and stop fighting for her, 0:14:40.720 --> 0:14:43.480 no one will, and then it will get just dusted 0:14:44.200 --> 0:14:46.920 under the rug and the another cold case that just 0:14:46.920 --> 0:14:50.960 sits there. And I just feel very strongly because it's 0:14:51.200 --> 0:14:55.080 my neighborhood and because I have become friends with Audrey, 0:14:55.640 --> 0:14:57.640 that I feel like I'm not going to stop until 0:14:57.760 --> 0:15:00.400 something is done. 0:15:01.080 --> 0:15:04.440 It's not just Laura who feels this way. Many neighbors 0:15:04.440 --> 0:15:08.560 have become invested in this case, and while some like Laura, 0:15:09.040 --> 0:15:12.760 have taken a very direct and intentional approach, others got 0:15:12.800 --> 0:15:16.760 involved sort of by accident, like this couple we met 0:15:17.160 --> 0:15:20.840 named Chuck and Margaret, who shared a rather interesting story 0:15:21.320 --> 0:15:32.680 of how they got involved. March fifteenth, twenty twenty, felt 0:15:32.720 --> 0:15:35.760 like an ordinary day for Chuck and Margaret. They were 0:15:35.800 --> 0:15:38.840 out on their typical leisurely stroll near the area where 0:15:38.920 --> 0:15:43.040 Jessica was found some seven months earlier. Surprisingly, the couple 0:15:43.120 --> 0:15:46.120 was hardly even aware of the incident involving their neighbor Jessica, 0:15:46.880 --> 0:15:49.120 so it's not like they were out there looking for 0:15:49.200 --> 0:15:53.040 anything or trying to take part in the investigation. But 0:15:53.080 --> 0:15:56.000 they would end up finding something on their track that 0:15:56.080 --> 0:15:59.080 would make them a part of this story indefinitely. 0:16:00.720 --> 0:16:04.680 We were walking the dog, were heading towards City Park, 0:16:05.520 --> 0:16:09.960 and we were going between the railroad and that security 0:16:10.040 --> 0:16:14.400 building that they built for pump operators when pumping station 0:16:14.520 --> 0:16:19.360 operators when there's a hurricane. So we're between there, and 0:16:19.400 --> 0:16:23.520 I think Margaret spotted a woodpecker and this tree, and 0:16:23.600 --> 0:16:27.400 she went off this way, and I'm walking the way 0:16:27.440 --> 0:16:31.840 we were going toward the pumping station, and I spot 0:16:31.920 --> 0:16:33.400 that ID on the ground. 0:16:34.880 --> 0:16:39.560 An id peculiar, yes, but also not the strangest thing 0:16:39.600 --> 0:16:42.720 to stumble upon. After all, many people passed through this 0:16:42.800 --> 0:16:46.800 area on any given day. Therefore, anyone could reach in 0:16:46.840 --> 0:16:50.000 their pocket or purse and drop their idea in the process. 0:16:50.720 --> 0:16:53.320 But Chuck was about to learn that this wasn't just 0:16:53.720 --> 0:16:55.280 any random person's ID. 0:16:56.440 --> 0:16:59.640 And it appeared from looking at it, it was kind 0:16:59.640 --> 0:17:02.240 of wow. It looked like it had been hit by 0:17:02.280 --> 0:17:06.520 the more So, we've walked there quite a few times 0:17:07.040 --> 0:17:10.440 and I never saw it before, but so I picked 0:17:10.480 --> 0:17:14.399 it up, and I walk over to her and I 0:17:14.480 --> 0:17:17.359 show it to her, and she says, oh, that's a 0:17:17.400 --> 0:17:18.160 woman who was. 0:17:18.200 --> 0:17:22.440 Killed at the time Chuck had no idea what Margaret 0:17:22.480 --> 0:17:25.520 was talking about, but it turns out she knew a 0:17:25.520 --> 0:17:29.800 little bit about Jessica's case and therefore understood the potential 0:17:29.840 --> 0:17:32.679 importance of the ID they just found. 0:17:33.880 --> 0:17:38.159 I had heard about it because I had surgery in 0:17:38.240 --> 0:17:41.320 the summer, and so I spent a lot of time 0:17:41.440 --> 0:17:45.560 resting and looking at my phone. And I don't think 0:17:45.600 --> 0:17:47.879 I read about it in the newspaper. I think I 0:17:47.920 --> 0:17:52.200 read about it on this neighborhood Facebook group. 0:17:52.240 --> 0:17:52.400 And. 0:17:53.840 --> 0:17:57.320 We had her name from the ID, so I guess 0:17:57.359 --> 0:18:02.359 I sort of searched the old posts and found the 0:18:02.480 --> 0:18:06.520 name of her friend that had posted it. So I 0:18:06.560 --> 0:18:08.560 sent her a message say, and we found it. 0:18:09.880 --> 0:18:13.200 That same day, an officer with the NPD came out 0:18:13.240 --> 0:18:17.000 to Chuck and Margaret's house to collect the evidence. Things 0:18:17.000 --> 0:18:19.920 stay quiet for a while after that, until about five 0:18:19.960 --> 0:18:23.320 months later, when the lead detective at the time, Anthony Lunn, 0:18:23.880 --> 0:18:27.520 finally gave them a call. They gave their story and 0:18:27.640 --> 0:18:31.600 answered any questions he had. But to this day, nothing 0:18:31.640 --> 0:18:35.240 more has come of that discovered ID, nothing that we 0:18:35.320 --> 0:18:38.879 know of, since the NOPD isn't relaying any information to 0:18:39.040 --> 0:18:43.919 us from the investigation. Really all it's done, is added 0:18:43.960 --> 0:18:46.200 to the mystery surrounding this case. 0:18:47.119 --> 0:18:49.840 It seems kind of weird that, you know, you find 0:18:49.880 --> 0:18:54.119 out that she supposedly didn't have any ID, which you 0:18:54.119 --> 0:18:58.600 would assume that was because, oh, well, maybe your purse 0:18:58.760 --> 0:19:01.760 was still at the house. But then why would she 0:19:01.880 --> 0:19:08.520 take that unusual ID with her, just that one unusual ID. 0:19:09.880 --> 0:19:13.680 Initially it was difficult to make sense of this. One 0:19:13.720 --> 0:19:17.679 can obviously speculate, but Chuck and Margaret aren't going to 0:19:17.720 --> 0:19:21.080 do that. They just hope that the small part they 0:19:21.119 --> 0:19:24.400 played and what they found can help lead to some 0:19:24.480 --> 0:19:29.639 resolution At the end of all this, though the idea 0:19:29.680 --> 0:19:33.000 has only added more questions to the mix. There was 0:19:33.040 --> 0:19:37.000 one thing about it that we were able to determine. 0:19:37.119 --> 0:19:39.720 When Todd and I visually compared the ID that the 0:19:39.720 --> 0:19:43.159 neighbors found with the idea that Justin should police the 0:19:43.280 --> 0:19:47.560 night Jessica was reported missing, we could confirm that both 0:19:47.640 --> 0:19:52.320 were Louisiana state ideas. Neither were a driver's license, and 0:19:52.400 --> 0:19:56.440 both had her name listed as Jessica Easterly her maiden name. 0:19:57.480 --> 0:20:00.600 Both had issue dates of twenty nineteen, and both had 0:20:00.640 --> 0:20:04.920 expiration dates of twenty twenty three. What we could determine 0:20:04.960 --> 0:20:09.360 visually was that they were not the same ID. They 0:20:09.359 --> 0:20:13.040 were both vertical IDs. However, the one left at the 0:20:13.119 --> 0:20:16.919 house had a completely different layout. At the top of 0:20:16.960 --> 0:20:20.359 the ID there was text above her photo, and the 0:20:20.359 --> 0:20:23.200 one found by neighbors in the field had her photo 0:20:23.200 --> 0:20:26.520 at the top of the ID without text. Could it 0:20:26.560 --> 0:20:29.600 have been placed there after Jessica was found and if so, 0:20:30.160 --> 0:20:36.760 why or was it simply overlooked at the scene. Remember, 0:20:36.960 --> 0:20:40.480 according to Justin's original statement to the NPD, it was 0:20:40.560 --> 0:20:46.560 reported that Jessica's keys, phone, medications, purse, wallet, and her 0:20:46.600 --> 0:20:50.119 ID were left at home. So how does a second 0:20:50.160 --> 0:20:52.960 ID end up right where her body was found seven 0:20:53.000 --> 0:20:55.800 months after the fact. And why an ID in the 0:20:55.800 --> 0:20:59.119 first place? Why not a credit card too, or a 0:20:59.160 --> 0:21:03.000 wallet to carry? Why not any of the other items 0:21:03.040 --> 0:21:06.080 that were left behind. The only thing we do know 0:21:06.119 --> 0:21:09.320 for certain, as Todd reminded me, is that a piece 0:21:09.320 --> 0:21:13.600 of new evidence like this has great investigative value in 0:21:13.680 --> 0:21:18.120 this new era of touch DNA. It took detective Lawn 0:21:18.160 --> 0:21:20.440 about five months to reach out to Margaret and Chuck 0:21:20.480 --> 0:21:23.000 about the ID, and that was way too long in 0:21:23.040 --> 0:21:26.800 Audrey's mind. So during that waiting period in April of 0:21:26.800 --> 0:21:30.400 twenty twenty. She actually decided to file a formal complaint 0:21:31.200 --> 0:21:34.080 nine months since she found her sister's body in the 0:21:34.119 --> 0:21:36.320 same area the couple found her ID. 0:21:37.600 --> 0:21:40.440 So when I found out that the couple in Lakeview 0:21:40.480 --> 0:21:44.280 who found Justica's ID had not heard from the detective, 0:21:45.480 --> 0:21:49.320 I decided to file a formal complaint with the Public 0:21:49.359 --> 0:21:54.919 Integrity Bureau and we listed all the things that NPD 0:21:55.160 --> 0:21:58.040 had failed to do to properly investigate. 0:21:59.480 --> 0:22:04.400 Four months pass and Audrey receives no reply regarding the complaint, 0:22:05.240 --> 0:22:06.240 but she persists. 0:22:07.640 --> 0:22:12.240 So we had to email E Creighton. His name was E. 0:22:12.400 --> 0:22:17.800 Creighton our formal complaint. Then, I'm gonna say it was 0:22:18.080 --> 0:22:24.720 probably May June or so I called him to find 0:22:24.760 --> 0:22:27.439 out what was going on with it, and he said 0:22:27.760 --> 0:22:31.200 that he couldn't find it in his email, that I'd 0:22:31.200 --> 0:22:32.200 have to do it all over. 0:22:32.040 --> 0:22:33.960 Again, send it to him all over again. 0:22:34.400 --> 0:22:36.679 And so I sent it all over to him again, 0:22:37.440 --> 0:22:44.240 sent him everything, and then I kept calling and calling 0:22:44.840 --> 0:22:48.560 and finally got a hold of someone and he gave 0:22:48.600 --> 0:22:52.040 me a control number, and I gave him the control number, 0:22:52.080 --> 0:22:54.080 and they're like, yeah, well, you're just gonna have to 0:22:54.119 --> 0:22:57.760 talk to him so I would leave messages. I literally 0:22:57.760 --> 0:23:01.200 called every day for weeks on end, never heard back 0:23:01.240 --> 0:23:01.600 from him. 0:23:01.800 --> 0:23:07.520 And then finally on August sixth, I talked to mister 0:23:07.560 --> 0:23:11.120 Creighton and he informed that they were going. 0:23:11.119 --> 0:23:12.080 To be investigating. 0:23:15.000 --> 0:23:17.639 This was a small win for Audrey and the rest 0:23:17.640 --> 0:23:21.920 of Jessica's family, a step in the right direction. As 0:23:21.960 --> 0:23:25.479 a reminder, Audrey wasn't the only person out there working 0:23:25.520 --> 0:23:30.400 the authorities. Laura, the Eyes and Ears of Lakeview had 0:23:30.480 --> 0:23:31.439 also been busy. 0:23:32.240 --> 0:23:39.520